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Notre Dame Basketball

HOOPS: Irish Cruise by Aggies 107-53

December 4, 2016
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It took a little bit longer than expected for Notre Dame (8-0) to establish themselves against North Carolina A&T (1-7) on Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion, as the Irish rolled the Aggies 107-53.

Seven Notre Dame players scored in double-figures, as Beachem led Notre Dame with 19 points, while point guard Matt Farrell chipped in 15 points and four three-pointers in just 22 minutes.

“It’s fun to watch that group play,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said after the win. “They’re really special. They like playing together and sharing the ball. We have skilled shooters with skilled passers. It’s just fun to watch.

“They handled their business and we had seven guys in double-figures. That’s a record and we may do it a couple times this year.”

Sophomore forward Matt Ryan scored 17 points on 5 of 7 shooting from three-point land, while freshman point guard TJ Gibbs finished his day with 12 points and seven assists.

As if the game wasn’t in doubt with Notre Dame leading by 16 at the half, the Irish started the second half with an 11-3 run over the first three minutes of the second half with two buckets from Bonzie Colson and VJ Beachem.

Colson continued his impressive play with another double-double of 10 point and 11 boards in 26 minutes of action.

Notre Dame used back-to-back shots from beyond the arc by Matt Ryan to go on a 12-2 run over 1:55 to more than double their lead from halftime to 78-42 with 10:35 left in the game.

It’s fun to watch that group play. - Mike Brey
If the second half wasn’t entertaining enough, the Irish went on 26-5 over the final 8:47, which was essentially a layup line for the Irish offense.

Notre Dame didn’t score until almost three minutes into the game when center Martinas Geben completed a three-point play to cut the Aggies lead to 4-3. VJ Beachem extended the Irish lead to 15-9 with a three-point play of his own.

Just the 10-minute mark in the first half, Notre Dame used a 14-2 run to take a 23-11 lead. Vasturia and freshman point guard TJ Gibbs hit back-to-back three-pointers during that stretch.

The Aggies couldn’t muster much offense in the first half, but that was expected as they entered the game averaging just 58.7 points per game. Gonzalez led the way for the visiting team with 14 points, as just five Aggies scored in the first half, while 10 players scored for the Irish in the opening half.

Notre Dame hit 9 of 20 shots behind the arc, led by three from Farrell, who finished the half with nine points. The Irish were held without a field goal over the last 2:45 of the half to take a 45-29 lead into the half.

North Carolina A&T ended the half going just 3 of 12 from three and shot just 37 percent from the field.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:
VJ Beachem. The senior forward struggled in the first half going just 1 of 7 from the field and finished with three points. However, in the second half, Beachem showed more energy and hit 6 of 7 shots to finish with 19 points for the game. In his second half spurt, Beachem threw down a couple of highlight dunks to push the Notre Dame lead over 40 points.

“I thought he tried to force a few things against their zone, but he stayed in it,” Brey explained. “It all comes back around to guys if you just hang in there. We obviously have enough guys who can score. Don’t force anything and hang in there. He got a little frustrated, but I was proud of how he composed himself. He got off to a good start for us in the second half.”

STAT LINE OF THE GAME: Bench Points. Notre Dame outscored North Carolina A&T’s bench 42-2. Yes, a 43-point differential, which says it all in the 54-point win for the Irish. Pflueger (10), Gibbs (12) and Ryan (17) led the way for Notre Dame.

“45 to 2,” said Brey. "I should tweet that out. 29 assists and we started off with about three or four turnovers in the first few minutes. Then you only end with eight and we’re playing a lot of guys. Guys are catching and touching the ball in different places and you’re still really good with the ball. I love that for us.”  

TURNING POINT: The Irish got off to a sluggish start, but Matt Farrell hit back-to-back three-pointers to put Notre Dame up 12-9 early in the game. That gave the Irish momentum heading and most importantly the spark they needed at the time. Notre Dame increased the lead to double-digits just four minutes after Farrell’s treys.

WHAT’S NEXT: Notre Dame will host Fort Wayne (7-2) on December 6th at Purcell Pavilion. The Mastodons got some national exposure as they knocked off Indiana 71-68 on November 22nd.

“Quick turnaround with a team that thinks they can get us just like they got the Hoosiers,” stated Brey. “I had a couple people text me about Villanova going to No. 1. I don’t really want to respond to that because I have a big game on Tuesday night against a team that has already beaten Indiana and is confident.

“It would be a resumè win for us, because Fort Wayne is going to probably be a Top 100 RPI game for us. They may be the best team we’ve played given their frame of mind, confidence and they have some older transfers. We’ll dig into them quickly and then you have some time to prepare for the one on Saturday afternoon.”
 
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